Taoiseach refuses to rule out second Lisbon vote

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has refused to rule out putting the Lisbon treaty to the Irish people in another referendum.

Holding a second vote, as happened following the rejection of the Nice treaty in 2005, is not likely given the higher turnout in Thursday’s referendum and the unlikelihood of narrowing the gap between the yes and no sides. Mr Cowen consistently repeated during the campaign that there was no “Plan B”. But last night he refused to assure the Irish public that they would not have to vote on the treaty again. “I’m not prepared to surmise on that,” he said. “We have an outcome here where we have a very uncertain future going forward. Colleagues in other countries are equally affected by this.”

“I have to talk to colleagues. I’m not ruling anything in or out or up or down. I have to go and see what the political decisions are that arise from this and analyse this fully,” he said.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said a second referendum has already been ruled out: “We made it perfectly clear that there would not be a second offer in this case. What has to happen now is that the governments have got to look at the decision that the Irish people have made and decide how best to move the concept of the European process on from here.”

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams who supported a no vote, repeated his call on the government to go back to Europe and negotiate a “better” treaty. He said it is “incumbent on all leaders to go for a better arrangement, an arrangement which is more socially and democratically acceptable”. His party’s MEP for Dublin Mary Lou McDonald said: “This is a moment of democratic truth. Do you listen to the voice of the people or don’t you.”

She said the government must go back and renegotiate a new treaty, so we are not left on the margins of Europe: “If the Government or Taoiseach chooses an isolated spot that is where we will be,” she said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, said: “We have to do a thorough and comprehensive analysis, not just of the campaign but people’s attitudes and why people voted the way they did.”

Former president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox said it will be difficult to renegotiate a treaty because “Europe will be perplexed to know what else it is we are looking for.”

Mr Cox said: “This is a very difficult moment for the taoiseach. A lot of hard thinking has to be done.”

Director of the Irish Alliance for Europe, Brendan Kiely said: “Ireland’s position within Europe has been damaged... the people who have supported this treaty on the yes sides are the ones that will have to pick up the pieces, while Mr Ganley will head off into the sunset.”